Audit: San Diego does poor job on street repairs

Crews from SRM Contracting and Paving prepare a road in Paradise Hills for a complete overlay of fresh asphalt in April 2010, part of a $47 million allocation from the city of San Diego.
— David Brooks

Crews from SRM Contracting and Paving prepare a road in Paradise Hills for a complete overlay of fresh asphalt in April 2010, part of a $47 million allocation from the city of San Diego.
— David Brooks

The city of San Diego has done a poor job of investing in street repairs and coordinating the work that is done by the city and private utilities, according to an audit released Monday by City Auditor Eduardo Luna.

The city has spent a combined $133 million on street repairs during the past seven years or roughly 11 percent of its transportation dollars. That has led to a backlog of $377 million in needed repairs and resulted in 17 percent of city streets being declared in poor condition.

“By not prioritizing and increasing investments in resurfacing, the city will pay more in the long run, both because life-cycle costs increase as the condition of streets deteriorate and poor street conditions increase vehicle operating costs,” Luna wrote.

The Foundation for Pavement Preservation, a nonprofit trade group, has estimated that every dollar spent on upfront street repairs eliminates or delays spending $6 to $14 later on rehabilitation projects.

Most troubling in the 59-page audit is that 18 percent of resurfaced streets were excavated less than two years later by city departments and private entities, such as San Diego Gas & Electric, for various projects. The audit said better planning and coordination could have enabled the city to avoid excavating recently repaired streets and allowed money to be spent on repairs elsewhere.

The audit comes as city officials plan significant changes to how transportation money is overseen and dispensed. Mayor Jerry Sanders plans to a fold transportation and storm water duties into a single new department beginning Jan. 1.

The Transportation and Storm Water Department will be responsible for street operation and maintenance, traffic engineering, utilities undergrounding, storm drain operations and right-of-way coordination. David Jarrell, deputy chief operating officer of public works, said the new department will consolidate critical transportation functions and ensure a high level of coordination between the city and private utilities that dig up city streets.

The city has 2,735 miles of streets and 271 miles of alleys within its 342-square-mile area.

City Councilman Kevin Faulconer said street repairs are a top priority for residents and the city needs to do a better job coordinating projects.

“It’s the No. 1 issue among residents I speak with,” he said. “This audit, and others like it, is vitally important to the City and the taxpayers we serve. It helps the city better deliver a core service.”

The city has fallen behind on street repairs largely because of its financial woes which began shortly after city leaders approved increased pension benefits for union workers. The city failed to disclose its pension deficit when it later sold municipal bonds, an error that left the city unable to borrow money at reasonable rates for four years because the city’s credit rating was downgraded or suspended by rating firms.

Once the city restored its credit in 2008, Sanders’ first move was to borrow $103 million for street and other repairs.

The audit made several recommendations, such as developing well-defined policies, creating performance measures and establish a two-year excavation plan for all maintenance projects. In a written response, Jarrell agreed with nearly all of the proposals.